Passage Through Fire
by Barrett's Privateer
Summary: A small community of human refugees from several sources now resides in the Carsverse. Thirteen-year-old Mii'auww, one of the remnants of a tribe of horse nomads, is at a crossroads. Is she to be a shaman or a singer? A spirit with unfinished business induces her to leave the refuge lands, to be drawn into the events at Piston Peak, though unseen by the "main players" at the time.
1. Chapter 1

**_NOTE: This is derived from the "Swept Away" RP continuity which started in 2007 and has continued in various forms and spinoffs ever since, first on the old Hillbilly Hell forum and presently in Wingnut City. I'm sure it's not the first or only "Humans in the Carsverse" thing that ever came up, but boy, has it had staying power. By the in-RP timeline, the events of Planes 2 would be taking place perhaps 6 years after the humans' arrival._**

_WINDLIFTER:_

_After we did our show at the Corn Festival, we still had some time to kill before going home. This year's festival, I understand, was a bit different - the humans had a bigger presence, setting up a display in a field just beyond the limits of the town. They had brought more of their animals in - their horses, goats and cattle, their feathered birds, some dogs and cats, all for us to see. I already knew their closest local associate, a Skyraider of the Raven tribe by the name of Kathleen - from years back - but we had not had time to visit until now._

_ Never before had my nose scented such things, and I'm told I have one of the best. Dusty, however, already knows a few of them, and he was eager to introduce us. Whatever, it gave him an excuse to fend off Dipper for a while, though the baby animals in their pens were also a welcome distraction for her to coo over. And I don't think I've seen our chief so wide-eyed as when that little human toddler girl came and looked up at him with eyes that seemed just as huge, and then patted his nose. Dusty's friend Sparky was right there with his camera, capturing that moment for posterity before the child's mother, all embarrassed and apologetic, finally caught up with her. Blade took it all in good humor, as gentle with the little girl as one of the humans' own great horses. It was something different to see him so relaxed, as if a great burden had finally been lifted off of him. _

_But it had been only weeks before that he might never have seen this day. And Dusty might never have lived to see the day of his SEAT certification. The cave where they'd taken cover that day, it would give them a measure of protection, but if the fire had burned any longer, they would surely have suffocated. With so much fuel around, that fire could have taken so much longer to burn over than it did. Under those conditions, it should have. _

_Why not? _

_Next to the humans' camp, there was a great paddock. They were doing demonstrations there, riding their horses, which still seem a bit unreal to me. There were several distinct groups, and how they'd all come here was a long and complicated story that Kathleen had tried to relate as simply as possible. _

_There were the original few hundred of Ash Mountain, another couple of hundred rescued later from their world's version of NORAD, and a group from their Austria, army people and others who'd brought more horses with them - the small golden ones, the big drafts, and the prancing grays whose movements seem to be as close to flight as a horse can get. When that stallion leaped into the air, I knew that at some point he must come down again, but damn, he was striving for it!_

_Then, there was another group, who were very different in their ways, and came from another place. Others call them "Nomads". Their horses are also different, with manes that stand up instead of falling down. These people are archers as well as riders, and they can hit a target while facing almost backwards at full gallop. Every Nomad, man or woman, can ride a horse and shoot a bow. They are introduced to both almost before they can walk. _

_The Nomads' demonstration consisted of hitting a series of targets at a full run. Even their courtship is like this, I'm told. If a man seeks the hand of a woman, he must be at least able to match her shot for shot. It would take a hell of a man to equal the speed and accuracy of the maidens who displayed their skills for us! For the final runs, they used whistling fire arrows, all hitting home as precisely as the ones before. _

_Then, it felt to me like the last piece of a puzzle had snapped into place. _

_A backfire denies fuel to the main fire. It can bring an end to a blaze much sooner._

_But it doesn't just start itself, and it's not business for amatuers. _

_So, who? I can't say right now, I'm just a working-class chopper with a particularly good nose. _

_MII'AUWW:_

_Years ago, my people lived on the steppes of our own world. We lived in our tents and yurts and followed our herds from high pastures to low and back again, with the seasons. Our warriors were a match for all comers... until a new army came that we had not ever seen before. It lit up our steppes like a wildfire, and we could only run before it, until there were only a few of the People with the remnants of their herds and their backs against the sheer, impassable mountains of the east. I saw my father ride off with the other men who would make a last stand, and he never returned. It was then that we saw a new group of riders, led by a gold-haired woman who forced the attackers into a temporary retreat - and then offered us a pathway out, even though we couldn't see any. All we had to do was... follow her... meaning, exactly, literally that._

_It was almost too much to believe, but we were out of options. We packed up everything, gathered our herds, and rode after Elena of Amber, and around us, the whole world shifted, again and again, but as long as we were in line of sight, we were taken along with her. In several weeks, we arrived in a place that the Chaos could not touch, that was always stable, because everything in it was "Pattern-Born" as Elena put it. But it was a world we almost had no words to describe! Machines, some large, some small, all moving and speaking and living as we do. It was so much to take in when the most complicated "machine" we'd ever seen before was a simple windmill or a water screw, and they certainly didn't move on their own._

_There were other humans there too, not many, but they had also been displaced from their home. But they explained the machines to us, and that the machines here were also people. We found a stretch of land to camp on, and as long as we didn't think about what was over the horizon, it was almost like home some days. But we could not go on not thinking about the rest of the world, our elders said that we would have to deal with it, and it would be easier for us children. So we went to some of the classes that the other children went to, learned their main language, learned to use guns and power tools and radios and phones and computers when they were needful, but we still kept our culture in our own dwelling places. Maybe someday we will once again ride across our own steppes... but not today. _

_Perhaps not this lifetime. _

On the second morning of her time of Passage, Mii'auww once again woke to the pinpoint light skirling and looping over her face. It alighted briefly on her nose tip before resuming its antics. Sighing, the girl flung her bedroll aside and sat up, reaching for the small bag that contained her comb, bodkins and fillet.

"All right, all right." Mii'auww combed out her hair in abrupt, choppy strokes, sectioned off the front with one of the bodkins, and then positioned the wool-felt structural fillet behind the part. All of the sectioned hair, except for the center bangs, was pulled back over the fillet, then secured with a woven, beaded headband before she finished with a herringbone braid and tuck in the back. She looked in her little mirror to make sure that the fillet's center section of stamped leather and beads was properly centered, as the center bangs hung down her forehead and exposed it. Mii'auww pulled on her bloomers, then wrapped her overtunic over her linen shift, finishing with the folded sash. After that, socks and boots. Then her pouch and dagger, in the sash's folds.

Pushing aside the flaps of the packbeast-hair tent, Mii'auww emerged into the nippy blue predawn, almost feeling the dew through her thin bootsoles. The herds were visible as shadowy masses that occasionally attenuated and separated into individual animals before again coalescing in their search for grass. She looked back to check on Taki, who she had staked by the tent. The gelding was nibbling what he could through his grazing muzzle, but turned an ear towards Mii'auww as he noted her attention.

In the distance, an indignant squeal broke the morning silence. Mii'auww knew the source without even having to look. Their family's dominant mare, N'sheki - "Toe Biter"- was chasing one of the lower-ranking horses, ears pinned and teeth bared. What had that poor soul done to incur her wrath? With N'sheki, it didn't take much, just getting a little too much into her bubble would suffice. The mare's teeth raked the rump of the dun-coated offender, who reacted with another squeal and an ineffectual kick before the final retreat.

N'sheki, a smokey-black sabino with high whites and a spot on the belly, rolled her honey-toned eyes and snorted. "Toe biter" was a name she had justly earned among the tribe; if any rider sat a little wrong in the saddle or was too hard and too long with rein pressure, she'd reach right around and bite their boot tip. Once N'sheki had succeeded in pulling someone right out of the saddle that way, and she hadn't forgotten, oh no. For this reason, among others, the mare had hardly been handled in months. People had far bigger things to deal with than a single rank mare. Now, she trotted back to the herd, with what Mii'auww perceived roughly as smug vindication. N'sheki had no foal this year; she was one of those "every other year" mares who MIGHT concieve if the wind and stars and omens were nothing short of exactly right, and the stallion hadn't offended her in some way.

Finally, Mii'auww turned, stretched and yawned. She went over to Taki and looked him over. The gelding was eighteen summers old, and the years were starting to tell on his little sorrel frame. Of late, over the past year, Taki had started to have trouble with his feet. Mii'auww hoped this founder wouldn't be of the chronic kind, but the past ten years had been rough on him and founder would be no surprise. As she checked the gelding's forefeet, he put his head down and blew softly into her hair. Mii'auww straightened up again, took a few bits of dried applecane from her sash pouch and held them out to Taki, who eagerly lipped them up. The dancing light was not so visible in daytime, more like a midge now. It hovered around at arm's length, sometimes flitting in close around Taki and getting a snap or a kick for its troubles.

"Stop teasing him. Please." Mii'auww muttered. The light-point drew back momentarily, but it would be back. Be polite, and the spirits will be reasonable, her grandmother had counseled. It had appeared not long after the start of her Passage, while she was doing her throat singing exercises, coming perilously close to her mouth as her lips, tongue and teeth created the resonance for the base tone to separate into separate components. It seemed that only she, Grandmother and the animals could see this tiny, glowing pinpoint, which was said to be a spirit's manifestation in the material world. To truly see who it was and have full two-way communication... well, it took a full-fledged shaman to do that.

Mother, of course, was oblivious as she kept pressing Mii'auww to practice her overtone techniques, expecting her to take on the tradition of the family women. Mii'auww was the second of four children, but the only daughter, which raised the very real possibility that if she didn't take up the skill, another part of the tribe's heritage could face oblivion, and it was quite difficult to argue that point when the tribe had already lost two-thirds of its fighting men and one-fifth of everyone else.

The pressure had weighed heavily on her in the past year, as her hours of schooling at the mountain complex were reduced and her voice practice time went up. The girl had always been ambivalent about her lessons at Ash Mountain; on one hand she was learning to speak, read and write English and do math, and use any technology that could prove genuinely useful and relevant to her life here. On the other hand, Mii'auww had never ceased hearing giggles behind her back from other children who thought that the sound of her name came more than a bit close to the noise that a cat makes. After being around housecats for a while, she had to admit they had a point.

She still didn't like it very much, and her Passage had given her a lot more time to dwell on it.

NICK:

He saw her as a human woman, except that her eyes glowed with colors - sometimes opal, sometimes jade, sometimes coral or something he couldn't guess at. That was why her nomad votaries referred to her as "The Jewel-Eyed One." She wore a gown of scarlet and emerald, her headress was like a wreath of gold leaves, her blue-black hair was in braids sparkling with pinpoints of light, and she sat on a cream-colored horse with hooves of jade, that wore neither saddle nor bridle, for what goddess had need of those? Behind her, half a league distant, was a great host of mounted warriors with standards rippling in the wind. They were so many as to frustrate all attempts at the estimation of their numbers.

He and she stood at the edge of a clear montane lake, with a view of green steppes far below, the land of Ever Summer. It was a bit awkward, essentially being a visitor to another people's afterlife. But the Jewel-Eyed one had known his want, and he had reckoned to bargain with her, though at times he found the sight of her a bit too much to take in and found himself staring at his own reflection in that lake's surface - a helicopter of the universe known to some as "Terra Machina" or just "Machina". He was on the small side, with skids; those with the knowledge would see in him many characteristics of an MD-500, with some Eurocopter and Robinson features here and there. It was true that he had been a crossbreed, the offspring of love-matched parents who had opted to "birth" to themselves rather than "build" in a factory matrix, with standardized parts to be added at maturity . He had grown up bold, if not always wise, and had parlayed his natural charm and stunting prowess into a TV acting career. The show was a hit, and he and his co-stars were at the top of the world...

Until, one day, the stunts and a freak crosswind got the best of him, and his spirit rose from his smoldering remains, to a place his dearest friend could never reach, as long as they were on opposite sides of the mortal veil. To him, afterlife seemed almost a curse, as he looked from above, to see his acting partner fall apart, and then, slowly, painfully, remake his life into something else. Seeing his friend achieve that goal had brought him a measure of satisfaction and closure, but there was a part of his friend's heart that had never moved on from the tragedy, and that, the departed one, the one who had lived as Nicolas Emilio Lopez, still had cause to regret. What he wanted now, more than anything, was to talk to his old co-star one more time.

One last time.

"Nicolas." the voice - Her voice - reached like soft, feathered fingers into his mind. "The people who follow me may never regain their first home for many generations. They now pitch their tents and graze their herds in other places, including the realm of your people. They will need to know who the wholesome spirits are in that place, and be friends with them. You have a need, and we have a need. We can help each other." To Nick, the language she was using seemed to be almost like that used to a two-year-old, but he realized that there were some things here that were still, presently, beyond his grasp. "Look down again."

Nick's eyes returned to the surface of the lake, which had become as still as glass. At first it seemed that it only reflected the clouds above, but he saw land below them... high meadows, somewhere in the mountain states. Animals new to this world, with round-barrelled bodies that seemed to be on jointed stilts, from which necks and tails sprouted. Some were small, with shorter necks and small tails, and there seemed to be nothing they couldn't climb. Some were larger, and had longer tails and short necks and legs, and they lowed and bellowed like tractors. Others had long legs, long tails and long necks, and their keepers - the two-legged humans - could ride them. Those last were horses, like the mount of the Jewel-Eyed one and her company, and their neighing was something he'd never heard before, though their whickering and blowing-out sounds were a little bit like the noises airplanes occasionally made, when clearing their noses.

Crouching lower on his skids, Nick squinted to see the details. The view seemed to get closer to the ground, showing the scope of the displaced humans' settlement - the transplanted mountain/cavern complex, the surrounding fields and new support structures, and the later arrivals from other parts of that world, and the tribe group from a different continuum. All in all, there were perhaps 1500 souls there, exceeding the bare-minimum viable population level by the margin of a few hundred. Whether there were still humans left alive in the places they'd left, and how many, were still uknown.

"The core group have been here five summers now, going on six." the goddess stated, "The remnants of the tribe came with Elena, at the height of the first summer." she pointed out a youngish-looking woman with long, blonde hair. "She is of an ancient line that can walk or ride between worlds just as my children would migrate between pastures, but there is great dissension in her family, and she would have none of it, hence her distance from them." The view shifted again, to the resident vehicles, many of them aircraft or pitties, and a few cars. "They have allied with one of the local tribes, who in turn are users of magic. There are also humans who have the ability to take advantage of the higher levels of magic here, and commune with the world of spirits. Among my own children, there is a line of shamans, though the ravages of the chaos war have left that line in peril. It is harder for me to speak to them directly, now. The last daughter of the line of shamans must open her spirit eyes to keep the link between us. It must happen soon, before other forces determine the course of her life."

Nick lifted his eyes again, turning back to the Jewel-Eyed One. "And that's where... I come in?"

"Yes." the goddess gestured again, and the scene on the lake's surface changed another time. There was a girl, perhaps thirteen years of age, riding a sorrel pony across the scrubs of southwestern Colorado. "This is her, whose name is Mii'auww." Nick manfully suppressed his reaction to the sound of the name - almost like "Meow". "Like all of the tribe when they reach that age, she is going on her Passage, a season living apart from all others, to fend for herself during that time. When she returns, she will be no longer a child, but a woman in the tribe's eyes, and from there the rest of her life will begin. From her father's side, she has the shamanic gift. From her mother's side, she has the gift of song. Mii'auww's mother desires that she follow as a singer, but she also feels the pull of her father's line. To them, it is one or the other, and that may have been possible on the home steppes, before the chaos war, but in this new age, we cannot leave any gift untouched."

Up until now, the helicopter-spirit had been content to leave most of the talking to the Jewel-Eyed one, but he finally spoke up further. "Still, she's kinda young. It's a long way between the Four Corners and Piston Peak. I don't see Blade going anywhere far from his post right now, not in fire season, and that smarmy bastard superintendent - 'scuse my French, ma'am - is giving him and everybody else at the park a slingload of grief. How am I going to pull this off?"

"No one else will be seeing or speaking to Mii'auww during her Passage." the goddess replied. "She will not be missed for a while." the view in the lake pulled back, details disappearing until just the outline of national and state boundaries remained. A bright trail traced its way from southwestern Colorado to the park site, a distance of several hundred miles. "There is an unbroken trail, for those who can travel without paved roads. She will have to ride across open country to reach the trailhead, and then travel only when the darkness veils her, but it is possible. But... the horse she has ridden from the time she could first walk, that one is no longer sound enough for the journey. He would founder before the third day. Mii'auww must choose another mount, and anything you can do to persuade her, would be helpful."

Nick's mouth pursed awkwardly. "Horses aren't something I'd know anything about."

The map vanished from the lake view, and once again, the countryside appeared. There was Mii'auww's small tent, her staked gelding, and a herd of nomad-stock horses grazing not far from there. They were not large beasts, but had a strong build and substantial bone, though their most distinctive characteristic was the mane that stood upright like the bristles of a brush, in contrast to the horses of the main human settlement whose manes draped their necks like women's hair. The Jewel-Eyed one pointed, and Nick's eyes followed her finger. "That mare, the black one with the four white feet, the blaze and the light eyes. She has a temper, but she also has stamina, and hooves like iron. She will make the journey."

Nick stifled a snicker as he watched the mare chase a lower-ranking horse around the herd, "I still don't know horses, but it looks like she really, REALLY wants a piece outta that other one."

"She is the head mare." the goddess seemed to shrug, if divine entities actually did that. "Her absence will lead to some fights in the herd until a new order is achieved, but it cannot be helped." The lake was restored to a view of water and the sky it reflected. "You will have to do what you can to influence Mii'auww. Until her spirit-eyes are opened, she will see you only as a point of light, and hear none of your words. Movement will be your speech."

"Well, I can definitely move." the helicopter finally dared a grin. "That's why they called me "Loop'n Lopez."

"It's time, Nicolas." the goddess lifted her hand. "Go with my blessing, different as we are." The helicopter's form condensed, into a tiny, intense pinprick of bluish-white light, and it hovered for a beat or two before finally zipping up into the sky.

But, not before looping a few times.

_Blade, we never had a chance to say goodbye, but it isn't just that. Not all of you is in the here and now. You're still on that damn cliff, every damn night while your team watches our TV glory days behind your back - gotta love fangirls, right? But if you're gonna survive what's coming, you need to move on. Not forget, keep the good stuff, the good times we had. But let the hole inside you fill up with something else. Something... healthy. I can't reach you alone. I hate to get the kid involved, but I need her help. But I'll do my best to guide her and help her make the best decision, promise._

_I promise..._

_You wouldn't forgive me if I led her astray._

Mii'auww looked down to her feet, noting how far down they now hung from Taki's sides. She'd had to punch another hole in the stirrup leathers to accommodate her growth spurt. The point at which she would outgrow her old pony was now "sooner" rather than "later". The stream and its small falls beckoned to them as they followed the herd to the pool that formed in the hollow below. The lead mare, of course, was always first, quick to pin her ears and ready with her teeth and hooves to show any interloper that there was only one alpha and it wasn't them.

Mii'auww halted Taki as the last of the stragglers put their heads down to drink, and dismounted with her toiletries and towel. She allowed her gelding a good drink before tethering him to a tree at the water's edge. Then, she stripped down to her shift, filled a collapsible bucket, and began her morning ablutions.

Interestingly, she found that this was one time where the lightpoint didn't follow her, instead meandering among the horses like a bright fly. It looped deftly through a series of snaps, kicks, tail swipes and irritable equine attitudes to circle over the lead mare, she of the smokey-black coat, amber eyes and lots of what the other people at Ash Mountain referred to as "chrome". N'Sheki shook her stiff, bristly mane, snapped her tail, and eyed the interloper with a haughty disdain before wading a little further into the pool and pawing at the surface of the water. She wasn't going to be bullied about by any obnoxious little light-mite!

Mii'auww sat on a rock beneath the tree where she'd tied Taki, going over her legs with a washcloth. She paid attention to the goings-on in a corner-of-the-eye way, rolling those eyes when the dot started pestering N'Sheki. "What are you bothering her for? Just stop, you're making her mad. She's difficult enough as it is."

Abrubtly, the spark left N'sheki's flank. It came to a point about three feet from where Mii'auww was sitting and alighted on another rock. "Well, at least you're respecting MY space," the girl continued scrubbing away at her shin, "Are you one of the Little Ones from the old land, or are you one of the locals?"

The spark lifted slightly, paused and then moved in a rapid downstroke, then out from that at a right angle. It repeated that twice - a letter "L" from the Roman alphabet that formed the basis of written English. Mii'auww and the other Nomad children had been going to classes part-time at Ash Mountain ever since their arrival. They had learned to speak and write English, calculate in Arabic numerals and use radios, computers and cell phones whenever those proved genuinely useful. In fact, Mii'auww had an FRS radio and a hand-held scanner back at the tent, though she hadn't had cause to use either on Passage.

"All right, I get it." she raised her hand as the spark progressed to an "O" and a "C". "You're from around here, then. Why are you hanging around? Can't you go to my grandmother, or the ladies at the Mountain? I can't be much help to you, I'm doing my Passage." There was at least one human there who could wield the local forces, summon them as magic, and two aircraft women who could do the same. But perhaps their talents were not the same as a shaman's, and the spark's answer was a vigorous side-to-side movement that Mii'auww interpreted as a "NO." It then looped and spelled out more letters in the air. "JUST YOU AND ME AND DERA - KISET"

Mii'auww sat upright, clutching the washcloth so tightly that water ran from between her fingers. "You know the fourth name of the Lady?" The Jewel-Eyed one had four names, one for each season. But "Dera-Kiset", Her "Winter name" was never shared with outsiders, for it took on the added significance of the aspect of Her that was guardian of the dead, and of the tribe's most secret inner places.

"SHE TOLD ME." the light spelled back. "HARD 4 HER ... 2 TALK... 2 U HERE ... BUT I CAN. U R THE LAST IN SHAMAN LINE... U HAVE 2 OPEN EYES."

"Spirit eyes, you mean?" Mii'auww leaned forward. "Grandmother says that once that happens, there is no other path but the Moon Path. And Mother would have a calf, because her heart's set on me taking her place as a singer. It would be like one of those... oh, those "grenade" things going off in the middle of the family."

"I KNOW." the light looped again, its figures becoming smoother and more cursive. "GODDESS SAYS THIS IS DIFFERENT TIME. U CAN DO BOTH THINGS, BUT U RLY NEED 2 OPEN EYES SOON."

"But that means... a vision-journey." Mii'auww stood up. "A long one, by horse. How is that possible in your world?" As if on cue, a jet roared overhead, on the approach path for the municipal airport in Cortez, the nearest population center to Ash Mountain. The aircraft, a well turned-out Cessna Citation male in livery of teal, burgundy and white, was at a point in his descent that Mii'auww could easily make out the color of his eyes beneath his visor; the contrail he left behind stood out starkly in the sky for a few minutes before starting to dissipate. "Beyond this little patch of land, they're all your people. No way any human would get about unnoticed."

The spark danced madly. "YES THERE IS A WAY. I SHOW YOU OK? "


	2. Chapter 2

**_NOTE: This is derived from the "Swept Away" RP continuity which started in 2007 and has continued in various forms and spinoffs ever since, first on the old Hillbilly Hell forum and presently in Wingnut City. I'm sure it's not the first or only "Humans in the Carsverse" thing that ever came up, but boy, has it had staying power. By the in-RP timeline, the events of Planes 2 would be taking place perhaps 6 years after the humans' arrival._**

Mii'auww tore off another mouthful of jerky while she held down the dog-eared map with her free hand. A copy of this map, about 4' x 3', had been distributed to every child who attended classes at Ash Mountain. The lightpoint hovered over it, blue-white-bright in the dark of the tent, then traced a path from the Raven tribe lands, where Ash Mountain was situated, to a place designated as a "national park", though the girl had only a passing concept of what THAT was. Between was a distance of several hundreds of miles. "THIS 4 OFF ROAD VEHICLES," the light wrote, "CONNECTS ALL PARKS. MANY USE IT SO GO AT NIGHT ONLY."

"In the summer, that's only eight hours or so." Mii'auww answered. "I know how long a mile is, a good horse can cover fifty of them in that time. My little Taki, though, isn't that strong-winded now, and his feet are starting to give him trouble. Soon I'll just have to turn him out to grass, though I suppose he'd prefer that to being the dogs' next meal, which is what we used to do with old, lame horses before we came here."

The spirit-light jumped and jerked, more emphatic now. "U NEED ANOTHR HORS ANYWAY. I KNW NOTHING ABT, BUT YR LADY SAYS 2 TAKE THE BLK MARE. NO ONE USING HER."

"I know that." Mii'auww looked beyond the tent flaps, "N'Sheki can single-foot, and go all day like that, but she's rank as the Five Hells. You've seen how she terrorizes the other mares. It takes arms and legs of iron to keep from 'becoming one with the ground' if she decides she doesn't want to work then."

"I CAN HELP."

"It'll take more than just buzzing around like a fly, because all you're getting for your trouble is snaps and kicks - but at least they react to you. Maybe you could drive a horse, but you need to know how where to press them." Mii'auww finally folded the map and sat back with crossed legs, regarding the white spark contemplatively. It was an iron rule among those consulting the spirits, NEVER to demand or even ask their names, but to wait until they disclosed one. It would help a lot more if this one finally identified itself.

She took another bite of her jerky, the well-smoked flesh of a packbeast. Food was another issue she'd have to address, she could only pack the most basic and lightest of rations, for there was no taking a packbeast with them, not in this environment and at the speed they'd need to move. "You need to get just behind their shoulders and stay at them there, once you get them to move their feet and give ground to you, you're on the way. Taki is gentler, maybe you can start with him."

Outside, the sorrel gelding was grazing, occasionally flicking his ears in response to the sounds coming from the tent and elsewhere.

The light zipped outside, becoming like a fly-mote. Mii'auww followed it outside. How could such a tiny thing drive a horse? "Go right behind his shoulder, and just enough to make him take a step over." she called out. "And don't waste your motion just flitting about."

The mote paused a beat or two, and then bore directly on the area just behind Taki's withers - his "drive line". By now, the gelding had returned to grazing, and looked distinctly unimpressed by what looked like just another speck of dust. After three attempts, the spark fell back, as if pondering. Then, it flared and popped, like a small whip-crack while it advanced on Taki's shoulder one more time. This time, the gelding flung up his head, snorted and crow-hopped two feet.

"Well, that's a start." Mii'auww nodded, "But you don't want to scare him, just put on a bit of pressure. Horses always move away from it. But let him calm down again first."

The mote raised, dipped and flickered, as if sighing. Fifteen minutes passed while Taki turned his attention back to the grass. For the next try, the spark brightened in intensity, trying to make itself as big as it could manage, finally achieving the radius of a marble before making another run at the gelding's drive line. This time, Taki flicked an ear and shifted over, one step.

"Better." Mii'auww sat down on the ground, and continued to keep an eye on things as the mote, armed with this new knowledge, proceeded to press Taki to various degrees and from both directions, until, about forty-five minutes later, it had the pony trotting in a circle at the maximum radius of his tether rope. Finally, Mii'auww raised her hand. "That'll do for now." She rose and went over to the pony, checking the degree of sweat, how much heat in his chest, and the general state of his joints and feet.

"The great flight was hard on him." she explained. "When we came here, he had foundered badly and the animal doctor and head horseman at the mountain made special shoes for him. We don't usually shoe our horses, their feet are already hard enough." She picked up one of Taki's forefeet, showing a shoe with a bar across the forward part of it. "So this is another reason that he can't travel too far." She looked towards the broodmare band, seeing N'Sheki grazing a bit apart from the other mares and their foals, with no offspring of her own this year. The geldings were off in another band, and every one of them had an owner. "If we're going to get her, it'll have to be soon."

The spark flew back to her, and danced, "SORRY I DID NOT TELL U NAME EARLIER. I AM NICK."

Mii'auww stood up to her full height again - "five-foot-nothing," as she had heard the mountain people describe it. "Nick, then. Thank you for saying. I suppose Our Lady filled you in on the way we talk to spirits, and what we ask, or don't ask, right?"

"SHE DID."

"It's all so we don't take chances on pissing off some sensitive spirit who then might steer us wrong in retaliation." Mii'auww walked back to her tent, and fetched another rope. "If we're going to start with N'Sheki, it might as well be now." Behind her, the spark remained still, as if contemplating whatever one-horse rodeo might follow.

Later that morning, Mii'auww picked herself off the ground for a third time, spitting out a mouthful of dirt. N'sheki was trotting off, trailing a lasso, wearing her best F-OFF expression. The spark, once again barely more visible than an unusually large dust mote, flew after the mare and bore down on her shoulder, flaring for an instant or two until the animal was forced to turn. Mii'auww pounced on the rope once again, bringing the mare's head around back to her. N'Sheki snorted and reared up momentarily, forefeet raking the air. She wasn't giving up without a fight. One of the things the girl did remember from her father was him saying, more than once, that a horse with no fighting spirit was good only for meat and hide. "You don't break its spirit," he told her, "You just make it easy for the horse to do what you want it to do, and hard for it to do what you don't want."

Right now, that was easier said than done.

N'sheki, ears pinned and snorting, braced her forefeet as Mii'auww pulled the rope taut and drew closer, hand over hand. "Fun's over, girl," she closed the last three feet and deftly looped another length of lasso over the mare's nose. "Now you're gonna get to work." With a another loop and twist, Mii'auww had an improvised "war bridle" in place. When N'sheki tried to pull, the thin rope exerted pressure at her poll, chin and nose. The war bridle was not a measure to be used lightly; it could become tortuous if improperly applied. The key was to release pressure as soon as the horse stepped in the desired direction - that was its reward for cooperating.

Even at thirteen, going on fourteen, Mii'auww, as did any young nomad, had more practical horse knowledge than many adult "Ashies". After about twenty minutes, N'sheki still wasn't particularly happy, but at least she was following the rope. At that point, Mii'auww called it a day and let the mare graze on a tether, after releasing Taki to pasture. She knew the gelding would keep to himself and wouldn't provoke the broodmares. Her own time, several days' worth, would be taken up with N'sheki's "refresher course".

On the second day, Mii'auww concentrated on the further shaping-up of the mare's ground manners. Three times she had yelled and smacked when N'Sheki snaked her head and tried to bite her. Nick could not be of much further help at that time, and even betrayed some amusement in his "dance", though he was careful to keep it behind the girl's back - most of the time. "Oh, go ahead and laugh." she hissed as she warded off the snaking head another time. "You're not the one who has to ride this witch!" This time, she worked the mare longer, from early morning until the sun was high.

In two more days, N'sheki was to the point that she could be longed, trotting and cantering in circles at the end of a long line until she understood that listening to Mii'auww was the easier thing to do. If she disobeyed, she would be running more circles. Nomads didn't believe much in whips, preferring to twirl the excess at the end of the line to move the horse. At this point, the sweat equity was starting to pay off as the mare was starting to listen more and fight less.

On the fourth day, Mii'auww was finally able to get a saddle on her.


	3. Chapter 3

On the fifth day, Mii'auww awoke just before daybreak, to find Nick's spark dancing above her nose. "MI, PCKG 4 U," he signed.

"What?" Mii'auww sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She pulled her tent flap aside and viewed the small nylon bag just a few feet away. "Can't be from anyone in the clan, we're not supposed to see anyone else during this time. "Did you see who left it?"

"JST A SHDW, HID WELL." Nick flitted outside as Mii'auww retrieved the bundle. He continued to hover about as the girl pulled at the drawstring of the navy-blue bag, reached inside, and pulled a half-dome-shaped something out. Something about the size of her head... something in tones of dark grey, with straps and a shade in front. It was some years old, and already sported an abundance of scuffs and scratches. Beneath, it was lined with foam and an adjustable plastic frame. Lettering on the side spelled out "TROXEL."

At this point, there was no more mystery. "It's a riding helmet. The people of the mountain use those. How long ago did this happen?"

"LTL WHL AGO. B4 U WKE."

"Only a few people who can move in and out like that without anyone seeing. That would be the users." Mii'auww reached back inside the bag. Sure enough, there was something else in there, a folded paper. A note it was, scribed in blue ink, in a semi-cursive style that Mii knew to be the hand of one of the teachers at Ash Mountain; the content of the text seemed also to be in Mrs. Delaney's typical style, though instigated by someone else.

_Mii'auww_

_Kathleen happened to be flying over your site the other day and noticed that you were working with another horse, that one with the temper that your mother pointed out to me once. We know you are outgrowing your pony, and no one else seems to want that mare, but if you are riding her, you should have extra protection. Your mother would feel a lot better if you were to use this riding helmet for now. Good luck with your efforts.. _

_Mrs. Delaney_

For a moment or two, Mii'auww stood there, note clenched in one hand, helmet straps in the other. "That would be SO typical for Mama, and those other women. It was probably Kathleen or Shayla who dropped it off. Planes can make a lot of noise, but not those two!" Being "users", the Skyraider and the Harrier could go about almost unseen when they pleased, "almost" being "but for the utmost vigilance", which would require... another user to see. "Mama just can't leave me alone, can she?"

Nick, for the interim, seemed content to stand by and let her vent, as if sensing that saying anything now would get him nowhere. Mii was now growling as she dived back into her tent, "As long as I'm in range, I'll never be left alone. What is the point of a Passage if the grownups just can't keep their double-cursed hands off?" There followed some curses in both English and Dichavi, Mii's native tongue. Somehow the hard, guttural, Anglo-Saxon derived profanity of North American English had a certain catharritic value that even the darkest of Dichavi imprecations were hard-pressed to match. "Good thing it'll be my cousins' turn to watch the mares soon, because I am bloody well moving, to some place where nobody I already know can SEE me!"

At this, Nick's spark stopped and glimmered, as if in contemplation. Twenty feet away, N'Sheki grazed on the tether where Taki had been before. The chestnut pony had been released to graze on his own, but still wore the grazing muzzle so he wouldn't founder again. Taki couldn't be left to his own devices with the halter and muzzle on; he would either have to be looked after by Mii's cousins along with the broodmares or transferred to the care of the Ash Mountain people who kept their horses in paddocks and under a closer watch. It was just another issue that would have to be resolved before any other plans, his or Mii'auww's, could be acted upon. But Mii's issues with her mother could, ironically, open the gate to the next steps.

N'sheki stood knee-deep in the stream, pawing at the current while Mii'auww balanced herself on her thigh in the saddle, adjusting the horse's girth. The mare had only tried to bite her rider's toe twice today, better than the four times yesterday, one of which had been successful. A well-timed yell and smack were having their effects. It was no worse, no more cruel, than what any ranking horse would do to a rude subordinate. Nick was still around, buzzing over the stream, hardly distinguishable, in the daylight, from a thousand other flying specks, but he seemed to be getting a sense of when to stay immersed in the background noise of life and mind his own business. Good for him. Mii dropped her leg and regained her stirrup, allowed the mare to drink for a few more minutes, then resumed crossing. The spark followed along.

Though still a bit rude on the ground, N'sheki was becoming manageable enough from the saddle, showing a fast,smooth racking gait and a good canter, though she was still a trifle reactive to leg pressure. This still had to be worked through, for the Nomad style of riding depended less on hands and more on seat and legs. One couldn't shoot a bow from the saddle any other way. Maybe THAT part wasn't so important under the current circumstances, but Mii's comfort zone still demanded that flexibility in a horse. It would be resolved, but only with more work - "wet saddle blankets", as the Mountain people put it. Today's trail ride was intended to file down the rough edges a little more and reinforce yesterday's refresher lessons. It would also take her up a high ridgeback that bisected the lands of Kathleen's tribe, the highest topographical feature in the immediate area besides Ash mountain itself.

It took an hour to reach the crest of the ridge, which the locals called "The Red Treads". From there, Ash Mountain rose in the northwest like the back of a dark whale from a sea of scrub. A little more north of that was Cortez, the nearest city. South of the ridge was "The Four Corners" , where the boundaries of four states met at one point, and it was possible for a car to straddle it and have a tire in each state. A human could also do that, if they got down on all fours. Permanent political boundaries were another concept new to Nomads, who traditionally hashed out territories and resolved disputes at seaonsal inter-tribal meetings prior to the Chaos incursion. It had been an improvement over the wars and blood feuds of centuries before, and the Chaos raiders had reminded the survivors of why they had sought less violent ways of settling their differences, though, in the case of this latest invasion, reason was to no avail. There were still some people who wouldn't stop until they had a lance through their guts. Maybe not even then.

Mii'auww didn't need to look to see Nick's little mote drifting around her. "So where does this trail begin?"

Nick drew a line, pointing west, then north and curving east. "CLOSEST POINT IS THERE." He wasn't abbreviating now. "20 MILES TO GO. SAFE ENOUGH AFTER DARK, BUT WILL HAVE TO CROSS SOME ROADS. BUT IT'S SO FAR OUT, NOT MANY DRIVING AT NIGHT. NOT MANY LIGHTS. ONCE YOU GET TO THE TRAIL, IT'S WILDLAND, PRETTY MUCH. I'VE BEEN UP AND DOWN IT, I KNOW PLACES TO STAY IN THE DAYTIME AND WHAT YOU CAN FORAGE AND WHERE GOOD WATER IS."

"All right." Mii bit her lip as she considered the factors that Nick didn't have to tell her. They were getting into the dry season, which meant cold camps all the way. Her people were used to going long periods without much in the way of food or water, though it was good to know where both could be safely found. "My cousins will be coming over in a day or two. I'll leave the tent for them. Too big to pack anyway."

"THERE IS SHELTER." Nick answered. "FOREST IS DENSE. MANY SMALL CAVES AND BOX CANYONS, AND WHAT'S LEFT OF OLD LODGE OF THE TYCOON WHO WILLED THE LAND TO THE PARK SYSTEM. WELL AWAY FROM AREAS MOST PEOPLE GO. LOWER WALLS WERE STONE, THEY STILL STAND." Writing things full out caused the spark to go nearly cursive, though letters were still in caps.

Mii blinked. "You really need to learn to write in cursive."

"I HAD A MACHINE TO DO THIS WHEN I WAS ALIVE - AUTOGRAPHS AND STUFF. HARD TO DO MUCH WITH BLADES AND SKIDS."

Another blink. Only one of this world's "species" had both, or at least those that didn't have wheels to taxi on. "You were a helicopter?"

"YES. SMALL ONE. MY FRIEND WAS-IS BIGGER. GOOD-LOOKING GUY, HE HAD ALL THE GIRLS. COULD STILL GET THEM, JUST NOT IN THE GAME NOW."

"Some men get like that when they're older, that's what Grandmother says." Mii'auww hauled up a rein on the fidgeting mare. "Usually, they have reasons."

"HE HAS HIS."

"Something in the past, or now?"

"BOTH, SORT OF."

When Nick responded in shorter, choppier sentences, Mii took it as a cue that he was getting a little reluctant to go into further details on the matter. She turned her gaze back to the mare's flicking ears, which still pinned whenever the mote buzzed too close to her head. But it didn't stop her from wondering what he might have looked like in life. But that, like other things, would have to wait.

The packing was finished. Saddle bags, pommel bags, bed roll, hip bags, bow case and quiver. Mii had debated leaving the helmet behind, but that would get her mother going even more. They would buy that she was moving to a more private place; they just didn't know how far off THAT was. Scowling, she finally put it on.

Her cousins were due to take over herd watch the next morning. They wouldn't take offense if she wasn't there to speak to them. She just left a written note with instructions for looking after Taki - not to let him eat too much grass, when his next appointment with the farrier was, and so on. So that part of the education of settled people was useful in some ways, though she wasn't sure about the ultimate worth of computer training yet, though her people now had laptops and network access. Mii was leaving the cell phone, but taking the radio, flashlight and scanner. The phone was a hungry little beast and needed frequent sessions with the solar charger - impractical, as far as she was concerned. She would be packing jerky, pemmican and a few supplies for her rituals, but would be foraging for all other sustenance. With sunset, Mii finally mounted up and took an animal trail Nick had indicated, which led some miles to a tunnel beneath the highway. N'sheki's unshod feet would make little noise, even at a gallop. But they would be travelling, most of the time, at an amble - brisk enough, but sustainable over distance.

As Nick had predicted, they did have to cross a few back-country roads, in the dark. But they saw no one that night. In the small hours, they finally connected with the off-road trail.


	4. Chapter 4

**_NOTE: This is derived from the "Swept Away" RP continuity which started in 2007 and has continued in various forms and spinoffs ever since, first on the old Hillbilly Hell forum and presently in Wingnut City. I'm sure it's not the first or only "Humans in the Carsverse" thing that ever came up, but boy, has it had staying power. By the in-RP timeline, the events of Planes 2 would be taking place perhaps 6 years after the humans' arrival._**

In general, horses have much better night vision than humans. N'sheki seemed to have no problems racking down a dirt trail on a moonless night with only starlight for her retinas to capture. Oh, and the light of Nick, of course. They had camped in hidden places during the daylight hours, well off the path. Now and then, between napping and foraging, Mii'auww had caught glimpses of off-roaders passing by, and hoped they hadn't spotted any tracks; usually they were traveling too fast to take note of what was being obliterated under their knobby, dirt-caked treads.

As for the other potential issue, Nomad horses were more inclined to "hold it in" while on the move, so that predators and enemies couldn't track them by their spoor. That did, however, make more "pit stops" necessary, for both horse and rider, and again, they had to be well away from the beaten path and exceedingly careful about it. After a week on the trail, Mii'auww had detected nothing on the scanner or the radio that indicated that anyone had checked closely enough to notice her absence. So far, so good.

Communication between her and Nick had evolved, in short order, to shorthand gestures that served well to warn of obstacles or oncoming traffic, but it would be much better if she could actually hear him. With exposure of sufficient length and proximity, it would happen, as Grandmother generally spoke of such matters, but it also meant that one was that much closer to that point in the Shaman path from which there was no coming back. How Grandmother would take this wasn't a concern; Mama, however, would be bereft. More than bereft, actually. More like, "Sunken to the black pits of despair". Mii'auww could almost hear her, "Who will sing with our people's voice now?" Mama had always had a flair for the dramatic as far as words were concerned, though she tended to fizzle at actually "doing things". _That's why you always connived everyone else into doing the heavy work for you, mother._ The riding helmet was just the latest episode.

Nevertheless, Mii felt a reflexive pang of guilt at the realization that amidst all the refresher training for the mare and her own preparation for the journey, it had been almost two weeks since her last voice practice. It would be a long time before Mii could dare to make such noise again, no matter how isolated she thought she was. Above, the wind sighed through the tree boughs like a pining maiden. The crickets, or whatever passed for them, chirped softly beneath the cover of the underbrush. The soft four-beat drumming of N'sheki's singlefoot gait underscored both. That would be all the music Mii'auww would be hearing for the present and the rest of the night, until daybreak when she would be off the trail and struggling to catch up on her sleep with birds cheerily calling above her, and praying that N'sheki wouldn't get too chatty or, worse yet, break her hobbles and go wandering.

Nick, for his part, was doing well enough as guide and "alarm system", warning her when the odd group of nocturnal fun-seekers came roaring up the trail. Mostly they were concerned with what was immediately visible in their headlights and barrelled right on by Mii'auww as she crouched in the bush and covered her mare's eyes so they wouldn't catch any reflections. There were a number of bridges on the trail, but they were avoided wherever a fordable point in the river could be located. N'sheki's feet, though unshod, would make too much noise on the boards. Clearly Nick hadn't been blowing smoke when he said that he had been up and down this trail for the past few years. Being so dependent on the spirit's guidance still made Mii a little apprehensive when she really thought about it, but she'd invested too much time and effort to call it off now.

However, on the eighth night in, she was several hours into her traveling time, and Nick's spark jumped sharply several times, warning of a bridge ahead, the one he'd described during their last map session, over the fast-moving river with no fordable points. It was a wooden cantilever bridge, with dirt-caked boards showing the wear of many vehicles crossing. Mii'auww gritted her teeth and winced as each step N'sheki made echoed in the ravine. Nick was apparently sharing in the trepidation, as they were out from cover, nothing above them, straight out in the open under the new moon. The mare, feeling what came out of Mii's seat, legs and hands, sidestepped, snorted and tossed her head. Below them, the river tumbled and foamed over rocks, its own noise doing little to settle the animal. Nick was scouting ahead, but zipped back like a white-hot streak when something else made itself heard - in fact, three or four "something elses". Mii'auww and her mount were at the midpoint now, looking down at the rythymic sound that dopplered in towards her.

Helicopters. Low-flying helicopters.

Mii felt N'sheki hollow out and tense up beneath her, preparing to bolt. Frantically, she pulled at the left rein, bringing the mare's head around and forcing her into a tight turn. Helicopters had very good night vision, though not perfect. If they were looking for something below them, they would definitely see her. Nick was signing GET-DOWN, GET-DOWN as she dismounted and grabbed the mare's head, bringing it down and around. Overhead, the first of the helicopters, its running lights visible, passed maybe 400 feet over the bridge, but it seemed so much closer to the ground. Looking up, the shapes of the group seemed angular, and bristly. Military, then. It was perhaps thirty seconds, but it seemed like an eternity before they continued on down the gorge and disappeared. Mii'auww unfroze, whispering to N'sheki, anything that would keep the snorting mare still. To her credit, the mare had enough confidence to stay put.

"APACHES." Nick signed, "THAT WHY WE DON'T STOP HERE LONG. TRAIL GOES THRU BASE HERE. MUST B TRAINING."

"Then we'd better get out of here before they smell us or something." Mii remounted. "Hope they didn't hear us going across." N'sheki snorted and pawed the boards, but her rider held her to a walking pace, resisting the urge to clatter the rest of the way across as fast as possible. Once on the other side and on dirt again, Mii urged the mare into a fast rack for the next few miles. By their last estimation, they were still several days away from their goal._Mother of Stars, that was scary. _

The next two nights were... twitchy. They had to cross another few back roads, bypass a couple of small settlements, and one time, take an animal passage under a busy Interstate. But the character of the landscape had changed - much more tree cover, coniferous, rocky hills and valleys. The nights were pleasant enough weather-wise, though exceedingly dry. Mii'auww listened to the grass crunching under N'sheki's hooves and felt parched ground wherever she rested. One day, after an intermittent sleep, she awoke at noon, with the sound of a trickling spring nearby. Mii had located some edible roots and berries, and sighted some mushrooms that could potentially be edible, but decided not to take a chance on those. Nick was a little further out, keeping a wary watch on the ATV trail. A small group had passed through earlier, and he 'd be damned if he was going to be caught off guard if others followed.

The mare, tethered a little further off, browsed at plants while Mii emptied out the last of the concentrated horse feed she'd "borrowed" from the Ash Mountain stores on the way out. There wasn't much of the ideal sort of land for grazing along the way, though Nick had said it would be possible to graze at their destination, at least at night. The mixture of pressed flaxseed, canola and molasses was quickly munched up by N'sheki, who could use all the energy she could on this trip. Looking up again, Mii saw Nick's spark apparently relaxing a bit and drawing back from the trail's edge, and there was, she thought... a sigh. She froze. There was no one else around, and she hadn't made it.

The sigh was then followed by a muttering male voice, speaking as if to itself. "Nope, nobody else. Hope it stays that way."

"Nick?!" Mii'auww jumped to her feet. "Who said that? You?"

"What the hell-" The voice had started out fuzzy, but was gaining in clarity and volume. It was definitely male, in keeping with his name, and youngish in tone. _"You can hear me now!? BONUS!" _Nick's light made a joyous loop. "Your Lady said it would happen, it'd just take awhile. But you're talking out loud, you gotta keep it down."

"Sorry." Mii's hand rose to her lips. "You sound younger than I thought you were."

"I was twenty-nine." Nick replied. "Seems that whatever age a person buys the farm at, that's where they stay. Anyway, this'll make a few things easier."

Mii had often pondered the question of the circumstances of Nick's mortal passing, but that was his business, and irrelevant to the current situation. Nomad children were encouraged to learn by keeping their mouths shut and their eyes and ears open, whether their teacher was a parent, an elder, or nature. It was an attitude that generally served them well. "I guess it will. Another thirty miles, you said?"

"Thirty-three miles." Nick clarified. "There is only one route for cars to get in and out, but there is a narrow pass, right down by La Parilla, that you and your horse can manage. You'll see a large wood structure there, that's the lodge, you need to skirt around it and keep to the trees. Stay downwind of the airstrip, you don't want your scent blowing across there. You'll know we're getting close when we hit rock and the trail narrows. There'll be a danger sign, but that's for the vehicles."

"All right." the end of the journey was becoming a concrete thing; to Mii, it seemed so soon, almost an anticlimax. But the time to ride was still long daylight hours away. She sat back down again, took a sip from her canteen and finally noted her hunger pangs. The pemmican in her saddlebags was tempting, but she needed to husband it carefully. It would be redroots and wild applegrass for now. The remainder of the day was spent in intermittent sleep, foraging and listening to the scanner through earbuds. Nothing about her yet, assuming anybody knew. Assuming Mother was minding her own business now. Assuming that they weren't already in a silent panic mode and trying to carry on a discreet search. If that was the case, the users would be on it, and the spirits would know.

After what seemed like an eon, the last light of another July sunset faded from the clouds; Mii'auww tied up her bedroll and picked up her saddle. She went over N'sheki's feet and legs carefully, finding them still strong, clean and sound. A thought of Taki crossed her mind then, and she hoped her old pony was all right in the same pasture as the broodmares. Reflexively, she put up an arm to ward off an attempted nip by the mare. N'sheki was NEVER going to be taken for granted. In the present circumstances, that might be for the better, for Mii'auww could not now afford even a moment of complacency.

This night's path was one of ascents and descents, a roller coaster at an ambling pace. The changes in terrain were more frequent now, and slowed their progress. But in the grey gloom before first light, there was the narrowing and steepening of that trail. Nick had been right that no four-wheeler of any decent size could negotiate this lemon squeezer of a pass. At times, it got so narrow and tight that there was no clearance for Mii's legs as she rode; she had to dismount and lead the mare through. Eventually, the high point was reached, and the pass widened by some few feet. The descent was just as cautious, with bare rock providing a tenuous purchase for feet and hooves. The sight of a tree line, once again, was greeted with relief.

"A little further down," Nick beckoned, "There's a path the deere use. Stick to it and we should be hunky-dory."

Mii looked down. Indeed, there were tread marks, fresh ones. If they went through a lot, their tires would obliterate her mare's hoofprints. Remounting, she urged N'sheki down the narrow, twisty course. To her right, a large, peculiar rock formation reared against the sky, casting a blue shadow as the sun rose. Ahead of her, the roof of a great structure was partially visible through the pines. As the trail brought her closer, more details became clear. It was a wood structure, but it was... huge. Maybe not Ash Mountain proportions, but something that could qualify as a lodge of the gods. "What is that place?"

Nick snorted, "Oh, "that place" is known to most as the Grand Fusel Lodge, and to a few as "The Superintendant's Folly." His tone was dismissive. "He's sunk a trainload of loot into renovating that place, if you can call overpriced opulent tackiness "renovation". Now, it looks more like a Russian oligarch's idea of a summer resort. I wonder what's next, a casino? Bingo hall for the grannies? Maybe not a bingo hall, the "stupidintendant", one Cad Spinner, is a first-class celebrity schmoozer and publicity hound. Do we like him? No we don't!" Nick shifted into full mockery mode. "Oh, too bad I had to reduce your budget yet again, but those new light fixtures aren't buying themselves. Are we sorry? Yes we are - or maybe NOT!"

"He's really like that?" Mii'auww pressed N'sheki into a faster pace, the sooner to clear the inhabited zone. "And whose money was he taking?"

"The budget for the air attack team." Nick spat out. "My friend is in charge of it. They're holding that place together with duct tape and prayers as it is. If they get another real fire here, the whole park could be screwed, perhaps some people hurt - or killed. Animals too. But for Mr. Spinner -" that came out "Spinnah" - "It's all about that #$! lodge. Been thirty-some years since I followed Blade here - had nothing else better to do - and I never saw anybody so into themselves since Hollywood. One spark, one campfire left to burn, one lightning strike, all that money could be a pile of ashes the next morning."

Mii listened. Amidst Nick's rant, a few more pieces of the jigsaw puzzle were falling into place. "You and your friend... you were that close?"

"Brothers by different mothers, that's what they called us on the set." Nick seemed happier to be steered to another subject. "Aside from being choppers, nobody woulda thought... him all big and laid-back, and me? Short-nosed skid. You've been here what, five-six years now? You've heard about some of the stereotypes by now? "Short nose and skids, short temper?" I'll admit, in my case, there was a grain of truth to that, and our TV show played it for all it was worth."

"I've seen enough TV now." Mii remarked. "The news can be interesting, but the shows that tell stories - well, they seem to be mostly silly people doing stupid things that would get their damned fool selves killed in real life. And the "reality shows" have nothing to do with reality. Hope that didn't offend."

"No offense taken, Mii, 'cause... you're not far wrong." Nick conceded, his spark flickering. "TV is, I admit, a damn wasteland. Looking back on the show Blade and I did together, I can see every damn flaw, every plot hole, every painfully hokey bit of dialogue AND every sleazy double-entendre that the executive producer could prod the writers to work into the script. He especially liked putting us in, uh... cross-species dating situations, because... swingin' seventies! I just let it roll off my back, but it drove Blade crazy. He wasn't racist or anything like that, but it was the one thing that just... _squicked_ him. He'd blow several takes, just to let everybody know how much it made his paint crawl." He stopped, as if for breath. "Sorry. That's MY baggage, and I know I shouldn't make it yours, but it is something you need to know when you see Blade. And sure as I know him, he'll be making his morning rounds, right after his fuel and his mash and his coffee. Just watch out for the big guy in red, or the even bigger guy in green."

"Who would that be?"

"Windlifter. Doesn't say much, but he's a decent guy. Does have a sense of humor, but you kinda hafta know him REAL well to see it. The others are all planes or Bobcat types, as long as you stay under cover, or away, you're good. Their noses are sharp, but not quite like us 'copters. OK, I partially take that back in Dipper's case. She can't smell for nothing, none of those amphibians do."

"I wouldn't know, I haven't met one personally yet." Mii shrugged. The lodge was out of view now. "So where is this "safe place?"

"We'll have to cross the valley and go through another pass to get to it. See that rock formation across the valley? That's Canopy Dome. That's where we can get to another little valley. Then we go up to into the woods to the north to get to Gold Dust Whittaker's place, or what's left of it. It's well hidden and almost nobody ventures up there. That, and we'll have a clear view of the air attack base. I've been away a long time, and I'd like to catch up on what's going on there."

"So who was Gold Dust Whittaker?" Mii asked.

"He owned this land." Nick answered. "Then he willed it to the Park Service when he died. His spirit wanders more, but still shows up occasionally. Your Lady said that it might be possible for you to see spirits of this world without a boost from her, but there'd be things you'd have to do, and once you go down that road..."

"No going back." Mii'auww finished that for him. "Any other spirits?"

"Yeah. Shay, a steam engine who fell into one of the canyon gorges a few years before Whittaker passed on, and Wally, an air tanker who is... mighty sensitive about anyone disturbing what still remains of his debris field." Nick's voice took on a slight edge at that point. "We've had a few... words in the past."

Mii pursed her lips. "You don't get along with him."

"He is... of the opinion that anyone who died while doing stunt work for other people's entertainment basically wasted their life, and is not convinced that anything we do in the afterlife can have any effect on those still living, or vice versa."

"Then why does he get upset when people disturb his remains, If he really believes what he says?"

"It's..."

"Complicated?"

"Yeah."

"So he still feels possessive and territorial and doesn't like anyone else messing with him. Or what used to be him."

"And he's always been critical of me anyway. Calls me "Mr. Hollywood" and worse things than that sometimes."

"So where is his crash site, so we can avoid it?"

"North of Augerin Canyon. Waythehellacross from where we're going, fortunately. If anyone is so remiss as to fool around with his remains, he tends to get a bit... poltergeisty. Some of the park staff are aware of the activity, and discourage people from going beyond the top of the falls, though they'll just say they don't want anyone falling off the cliff."

Mii just nodded. Many people here didn't take much stock in spirits, or "superstitions."

"Did he know your friend too?"

"Wally was second-in-command to the old air boss at the time that Blade came here as a trainee. Was harder on him than the old man was. He doesn't have much to say for or against Blade these days, which is probably a good thing."

Mii felt a tensing from the mare beneath her, and noted N'Sheki's head raising, ears swiveling and nostrils flaring. "Easy, girl. What is it?" Something stirred in the brush flanking the trail, and two green shapes emerged. She almost took them for native tractors, but for the lighter build and the antler-like racked lights on one of them. A bit smaller, they were, than iron-elk she'd seen around Ash Mountain.

Deere.

N'Sheki halted and tossed her head. If forced at this point, her next step could be six feet in the air. Mii backed the mare a few feet, and reviewed the situation. The deere were just... looking at her, not particularly alarmed, or impressed. After a moment or two, they just flicked their sideviews and continued on their way across. After another minute, Mii was able to urge her reluctant, snorting mount through the area where they'd been. "Better get used to them, girl. You'll have to share grass with them."

"She took it better than I expected." Nick remarked.

"A new thing for her." Mii'auww shrugged. "She'll get over it. Our horses always do. The long-maned ones are beautiful, but many of them are dumpling-heads and would be heading for the hills with or without their riders at the first sight of those creatures."

Nick couldn't help a chuckle as his spark bounced near the mare's head. "So you might be rank, girlie, but you're not stupid."

N'sheki rolled her eyes, pinned her ears and snapped at the mote. Her teeth clicked in empty space. Unpreturbed, Nick zipped away. "You'll have to be faster than that, hayburner."

"Mind your manners." Mii reined in, collecting the mare and holding her with her inside leg as they rounded a turn. The ride went quietly for another while, until the next pass presented itself. Another climb followed, though not as steep or as treacherous as the little pass near La Parilla. She did have to dismount again when they reached the crest of the ridge, as it was bare at the top and the risk of getting ridgelined, though small, was present. When they were halfway through the descent and back in the trees, there came a faint, but growing rythym of rotor blades, coming from the other side of the smaller valley. Mii led N'Sheki into the brush and held her head down. From under the pine boughs, she looked up.

Soaring perhaps five hundred feet over the dome, the helicopter stood out vividly against the now-noonish sky in his livery of scarlet, white and black. He was refined and somewhat breedy in the head and tail boom, but his body and engines were robust and powerfully made. The letters and numbers on his contours, though hard to read at this distance, identified his status and station. The details of his face became visible as he changed direction and inspected the side of the ridge, and Mii scrunched down a little more as she saw those active - and stern - blue eyes. Her eyes slid to Nick's spark. "That is.. Blade?"

"That's him. Blade Ranger. I know it's not the name he was born with, but it was the name he went by as an actor. Blade came from an upper-class family back east, but he was REALLY on the outs with them, and the only reason I know THAT much because we were working together, eating together, hanging out and practically breathing each other's air for seven years." they watched as the helo finally ascended over the ridge to assay the larger valley. "You could call him any number of things, but "lazy" wasn't one of'em. Hardest-working guy I ever knew."

"So he kept his 'acting name' even after he left that line of work?" Mii's eyes followed the final flash of tail boom over the rocks and trees.

"Yeah. His relations with his family were just that... toxic, that he'd never go slinking back to 'em. I dared to take a peek. Who they are isn't important now, and old Dad passed on, but older Sis is still alive and running the family firm like the tyrant she is, and younger bro is a poster child for useless trustifarianism and failed relationships, which lasted just long enough to produce two kids that, without serious intervention, will grow up to be feckless, totally-devoid-of-purpose scandal magnets just like him."

"Ugh. In the old days of our tribe, such worthless men tended to die." Mii smirked. "In conveniently timed hunting or riding accidents, or aiming an arrow this way instead of that on the battlefield. Or else the women would poison him, but it was considered unfair and disgraceful to force the women's hands on a matter that the men needed to sort out themselves."

"So your people do "fragging" too, huh?" Nick's voice was barely stifling a snicker.

Mii nodded, smiling tightly. "I've heard the word, from the army men in the camp. Some of them married tribeswomen, mostly widows, and our people had many. They may not be archers, and many of them not riders, but they earned the right to be called warriors." She looked down the path. "Safe to move on now?"

"Should be." Nick took up point again as Mii remounted. For another mile, there was no other issue... until the drone of a single-engined airplane was heard, coming in from the east. She looked up, squinting. "Mother of stars..." She jumped down from the saddle again, forced the mare to drop her shoulder, then kneel, then lie down, with herself across the animal's neck.

"What are you doing?" Nick flew back to them. "He won't see you."

"I want to make DAMN SURE he won't see us." Mii'auww looked skyward again. The plane was low enough that she could see details. "I know that one! He might still remember me. What's the wind like up there? Can he scent us?"

"We're downwind of him, and your scent won't be getting high enough." Nick assured her. "What's the situation with this one?"

"That's... Dusty - Dusty Whatshisname, he's famous now, I still keep forgetting his last name, but airplanes who meet humans never forget the first ones they see, or smell, and I'm not the first human he met, but I'm literally the _second_."

"Okaayyyyyy..." Nick paused. There was a story behind this, to be sure, but it would have to wait. "You sit tight. I'll go see what his business is."


	5. Chapter 5

**_NOTE: This is derived from the "Swept Away" RP continuity which started in 2007 and has continued in various forms and spinoffs ever since, first on the old Hillbilly Hell forum and presently in Wingnut City. I'm sure it's not the first or only "Humans in the Carsverse" thing that ever came up, but boy, has it had staying power. By the in-RP timeline, the events of Planes 2 would be taking place perhaps 6 years after the humans' arrival._**

**********  
>Mii'auww crouched on the slope, with binoculars in hand and N'sheki ground-tied beside her. The newcomer hadn't been on base for ten minutes before something else happened - whiffs of smoke were blown back over the ridge from the larger valley beside, inducing the mare to jig nervously and paw the ground before Mii's hand stilled her. Fire was something no equine wanted anything to do with, just smelling smoke was more than enough to make them uneasy.<p>

Nick was still up there, finding out what was what. But that "what" was now becoming an explosion of activity as the now-familiar sounds of aircraft engines and rotor blades reverberated off the canyon walls. Two twin-props and a big green helicopter raced over the ridge, with the new arrival tagging along whether wanted or not. Mii clutched at N'sheki's bridle as the animal snorted and half-reared in response to the great twin-boomed transport passing directly overhead. A male, she figured, as this massive fellow was low enough to show the finer details of his belly. Not young, but in good shape, in tones of grey, black and red. Fortunately for her, he and his companions would be too focused on the task at hand to be much concerned about who or what they might be overflying. The smaller plane, a bright yellow air tanker, followed seconds after. The helicopter, a skycrane-type, was the slowest of the lot. Dusty was still the biggest worry, but he wouldn't be smelling anything else but smoke right now.

"Come on." Mii'auww tugged at the reins of the reluctant mare. N'sheki tossed her head in protest, but had no choice but to trot along as Mii scrambled back up the pass to get a view of what was going on in the greater park. At the crest of the ridge, she stooped again, and pulled the mare's head down as she squinted into the distance and debated the risk of using the binoculars again, as the lenses might flash in the sunlight here. But here, within arm's reach, there was a thicket of wild plums - small, red, edible fruit. Mii grabbed a few, pitted them and fed them to N'sheki to pacify her before taking a couple for herself. How many such trees were there in this park? If this one, there were others. Looking out once more, she beheld a column of smoke rising from the park's northwestern section. It didn't appear particularly large, but the team was obviously intent on ensuring that a "little" fire didn't grow into a big conflagration. It was then that the first helicopter re-emerged, coming directly through that smoke._How did he manage THAT without coughing up a storm?  
><em>  
>"I see you found the wild plums already." Nick's voice chuckled behind her. The blue light passed along N'sheki's offside flank, dodging the mare's cow-kick and snapping teeth. Mii'auww growled at the horse and jerked her still again. "Behave yourself, you little witch." She pointed out towards the blaze, and its oncoming attackers. "So what did you find out about Dusty?"<p>

"Apparently, he's looking to get training there - as a firefighter." Nick answered. "Exactly why he didn't say yet, but Dipper - that twin-prop girl in yellow - was already all over him. She's a certified air tanker and certified man-crazy as well. Not that there's anything wrong with her work ethic, as you can see, but if she doesn't try to jump poor Dusty's frame at least once in the next week, I'd be surprised."

"And the others?"

"Big twin-boom guy is Cabbie, the skycrane's Windlifter, of course. Oh, looks like we'll be seeing the smokejumpers in a sec." The spark jigged in anticipation. "There they go." From out of the rear of the great twin-boom, five bobcat/ATV types leaped out and descended by parachute. One of them was large enough to require double chutes. This wasn't the first time Mii had witnessed a para-drop in her six years in this world - she had seen an air show once - but these vehicles, with one exception, were a bit on the heavy side, and their combined weight quite a load for even a large plane to carry.

"Risky." Mii muttered, between plums.

"Nobody ever said it wasn't." Nick made a shrug-bob. "But then, same for 'copters doing loops, if you get my drift."

Mii'auww paused, her little penknife in the middle of pitting, and gave him a hard look. "Accident, was it?"

"Yeah." there was a sigh. "Stupid accident. Crosswinds happen. I just didn't expect it then and there. Nobody expects to die just for the sake of entertainment, but now and again somebody's number comes up." Nick snorted. "We helicopters are, if you give any credit to the least of the stereotypes, hard-nosed, no-nonsense, always on the alert when off the ground. There's truth to that - fixed-wing aircraft have a BIT of a margin for complacency, rotorcraft can't afford it. Too much joie de vivre, too much levity, and a chopper ends up like yours truly, in a smouldering heap on the ground. But I can at least be thankful I didn't crash into a building, or on a busy roadway, and take other people with me - damn, what is that guy DOING?!" he groaned. "Dude, watch where the hell you're going!"

Mii'auww's eyes snapped up, then squinted before she shaded them. A word surged up from inside and through her larynx and into the chamber of her mouth, one that she had heard occasionally out of the mouths of of the mountain people in moments of anger or irritation, but that no one wanted to hear in "polite company" and especially not from children. "Oh, fu-" she swallowed the half-uttered expletive. "Sorry."

"S'OK." Nick "shrugged" again. "Way too close, but still a miss. But for one split second, Blade had that "life flashing before my eyes" look before he went to "Who the Hell are YOU" and "Now I'm Really, Really Annoyed." If Dusty's seriously aiming for a new career, for whatever reason, a near-collision with the air boss before they've had the chance to say hello is not exactly the way to start a nice working relationship."

"So he'll get a talking-to when they come back?"

"At least." Nick's tone took on a smirk. "But I think he'll let the poor bastard live. THIS time." He groaned again. "Dude, NOOOoooo... You HAD to top off your previous breeeellliannnt maneuver by flying right through the retardant? Get your dumb !% #$! aft back to the base, where it shoulda stayed in th' first place!" He jigged, and darted back down the pass. "OK, I've delayed us long enough. Gotta get all camped out and squared away before dark..."

Mii followed, with the mare plodding behind. It was she who was now smirking. Nick had used an interesting combination of words. The first part, "mother", was clean enough.

The participle that followed, not so much.

*******************

By the red light of the small flashlight, Mii'auww withdrew a plastic-wrapped packet from one of her saddlebags. She had decided to mark her arrival with the luxury of an "A-pack" meal, one of a small box of rations the elders had given her, among other things, prior to her going on passage, to be used if nothing else could be had. She had taken four, but hadn't touched them yet. It wasn't the Nomad way to eat too heavily while on the move. The Mountain people had had years of such shelf-stable food packed away, apparently, before the "blowup" and the deployment of the "elevator" device that had brought their mountain and all inside it to this timeline.

Over the years, Mii had taken lunches with the Mountain children, after the morning classes, and there were some things she had grown to like; pasta was one of them. She doubted that the "Creamy Chicken Tetrazinni" was anything like what was served in the Mountain dining hall, but it was better than raw roots and greens in a fireless camp. She loaded the heating bag, then poured in the salt water solution that would get things bubbling. Off to the right, N'sheki was picketed in the corner of the remains of the stone foundation that now served as their shelter. The mare was munching on red clover that Mii'auww had foraged for her as darkness fell and Nick headed back to the base to see how a certain would-be trainee had fared. Above, clouds were gathering. There was no aerial firefighting activity more than thirty minutes past sunset, that was the rule according to the ghost. Mii would be reasonably safe going down to the meadows to graze and water her mare and refill her canteen - but not right now.

While the tetrazinni was heating, Mii poured the contents of a lemonade-flavored electrolyte packet into the canteen, closed it and shook it. She already had crackers, peanut butter, raisins and "Smarties" laid out. After the last week and a half, she had noted a bit of a weight loss, in her and her mount, and they both needed to recover calories, even if the raisins were a trifle too metallic in flavor for Mii's liking. Despite the dry conditions, the grass down by the river banks was lush and green enough, and would sustain N'sheki as long as she wasn't too terribly taxed for the next few days._Thank the Lady that mares are quiet._ _Even if Taki could've made the trip, he'd be calling out all over the place. _

Once things were heated up, Mii'auww heaped the tetrazinni onto the crackers. She had never been keen on the mountain people's eating utensils, finding this more convenient. She let N'sheki have the peanut butter and the sugar from the accessory pack that came with the rations; the mare accepted them eagerly. At least she was enthusiastic about something. The smarties were saved for last, chocolate being something else that Mii had come to appreciate. As she finished the last of it, it occured to Mii that Nick had been gone a good while, and she wondered just what he'd have to tell when he returned. But having had the fullest meal in what seemed like eternity, it felt like the next thing in order would be a good sleep, at least a few hours' worth. She had already set paracord across the surrounding trees. If any creature crossed it, it would tug at her hand. She had already seen "Deere" tracks in the surrounding area, and didn't really want to find out if there was anything bigger, or worse out there.

A few hours later, Mii'auww awoke to the sound of crashing thunder. N'sheki was shifting nervously and pawing. Nick was beside her again, flickering. "Just dry lightning." he said. "No rain coming down, though everybody wishes there was. It'll probably start another fire in the bigger valley."

"Why not in this one?" Mii asked.

"This one gets a little more moisture, as it gets the full benefit of the prevailing winds." the spark answered. "Those canyon walls between? They create a rain shadow, making V6 Valley tinder-dry in the summer. If you ask me, they shoulda built the Damned Futile Lodge over here instead, but y'know, the other place is bigger and prettier."

"So what kind of excitement did you see at the base?

"Well, you'll be relieved to know that Dusty didn't get his prop ripped off by the chief." Nick also sounded rather gratified. "Dusty's not a totally stupid guy, just over-eager and gets caught up in the moment a little too much. He's a bit taller than he was, now that they put pontoons on him. And they gave him "the initiation".

"Initiation?" Mii frowned slightly.

"They showed tapes of our old show, played the "hoist" game with it. Maru - the mechanic - keeps these hidden away for occasions like this. It sounds wierd, but in its own perverse way, it kinda shows the newbies what lines not to cross with Blade. As for Blade, he just goes off and broods on the overlook while politely pretending those bootlegs don't exist. They never did a real DVD release of our show, because the executive producer passed on and his heirs are fighting over his estate, including all his TV properties. Until that case is resolved, an official release won't happen. Blade kind of hopes the greedy bastards go on fighting, the last thing he wants is renewed interest in _CHoPs_ and "Where is Blazin' Blade Ranger now?" He's got enough to deal with in the park superintendent, thanks very much."

"I saw a white car go up the road to the base just after they landed. He was just _blinding_ white all over and looked like a real self-important type. Was that the man you mentioned yesterday?" "Mentioned" was, in Mii's opinion, an understatement. "Ranted about" was more like it.

"Yeah, Mr. Tailpipe himself, Cad Spinner." Nick affirmed. "That guy who's all about the lodge, and VIP's and parties, and schmoozing with the rich, famous and mighty. Couldn't give an airborne intercourse for the rest of the park, least of all the firefighters. Nothing says "I love you guys" like diverting eighty percent of the fire control budget into that super-opulent makeover of the place - you ever get close enough to see inside, you'll know what I mean."

"Ugh." Mii reached down, grabbing a handful of soil and pine needles and rubbing it all between her fingers, then sniffing it. Assessing soil condition and vegetation was part of the skillset of every one of her people. "If it's this dry here, with the odd bit of rain coming in, I can't imagine what it must be like on the other side of the ridge. If the least of what you say is true, and I've no reason to doubt you now, Nick, this man shouldn't be in charge of a dungheap, let alone a park."

"I think it was his mother." Nick sniffed dismissively.

"What about his mother?"

"His mother had a lot of connections. Knowing and working all the right people can get you things, sure, but once you're there..."

"You need to know what to do with it."

"Exactly."

"How long has he been in charge?"

"Five years."

"And nothing really bad has happened yet?"

"Sheer luck." Nick flashed. "But this is an unusually long dry spell, and it could be... well, his undoing." there was a sound of exhaling. "Just hope it isn't everyone else's undoing as well. Speaking of... I still wanna hear about how you met the esteemed Dusty Crophopper BEFORE he became famous."

"It was three years ago." Mii'auww answered. "I was out watching the sheep, and we kids had just been given walkie-talkies. I heard that an old woman had gone missing from the mountain, she was over eighty years old, and she had... " Mii struggled slightly to remember the word, "dementia, that's it. She didn't even really know that the world around her was not the one she'd been born in. Well, anyway, she managed to get out and wander off, and everyone was in a panic. They asked everyone in the area to be on the lookout, and that went out on the aviation band as well."

"OK." Nick's spark "nodded" slowly. "So that's how Dusty would have got wind of this?"

Mii nodded back. "Uh-huh, yes. Our radios couldn't transmit on the aviation band, but they could monitor it. Just then I hear "Crophopper Seven" saying that he'd spotted a human woman wandering towards some cliffs, and he was concerned that she might fall over one. He happened to be flying southeast on some business for his boss, that's how he happened to be there that day. What he did next - well, it would be crazy, for a plane. He decided, then and there, to land. There was an old stretch of road going through, hardly anyone used it now. That's where he came down. He was going to see if he could stop this old lady before she got to the cliff's edge and found her death there."

Nick "hmmm'd". "Somehow... from what I saw today, that doesn't surprise me. He feels a lot, gets swept up. Only a guy like that would go so far."

"Well, somehow he gets to her, and kind of herds her away from the cliffs. She's got dementia, she's mostly blind, she doesn't even realize who or what is talking to her. But he manages to steer her away from the danger zone. I checked my map and figured out that it wasn't too far from where we were guarding sheep, and I left them to my brothers while I rode off to this place with the cliffs. I'd been there once before. Our people take on responsibilities a lot younger than the mountain children do."

"So I figured."

"I met them there. It was still early spring, wet and blustery, and the old woman was shivering. If the cliffs hadn't gotten her, exposure would've done it eventually. I gave her the tea in my canteen that was still warm, and my cloak. Dusty had shielded her from the wind and rain, but he could only do so much."

"He did buy her time, though." Nick interjected.

"He did do that. And the lady's family was very happy for it." Mii opened that selfsame canteen and took another swig of lemonade-tinged water. "The planes at the mountain invited Dusty back there to have something warm to drink before he went on. So he met other humans, but she and I were the first. I already know you aircraft, you don't ever forget the smell of the first humans you meet. Sure as hell he'd still remember mine."

"Which makes our business a bit more... complicated." Nick conceded.

"I know how to mask scent, but it's more work." Mii'auww lay back on her bedroll again. "Damn it, he's a sweet man, but we didn't need this."

"We'll just have to be a bit more careful." Nick's spark rose tentatively above the foundation walls. _As long as the wind blows right, and Wally doesn't hear, we should be OK._


End file.
